To Be Forgiven
by StarBlazer124
Summary: Franky knew he had to tell him what happened. He was Tom's brother, after all.


Franky's heart raced as he came upon the address he had been pointed to. While he had remained calm during his conversations with the locals, his nerves felt like they would swallow him up whole. The sign on the door of the workshop was flipped to 'Open' and no one was around on the street, so he most likely wouldn't have to wait long before speaking with the person he was looking for. Yet Franky stayed rooted outside.

'Snap out of it!' he berated himself. 'Where's all that macho confidence? You've been doing super up until now. Why're you choking?' He knew the answer though. He could feel the weight of guilt and responsibility gnawing at his gut. 'You have to do this. He has a right to know. No matter what he thinks of you afterwards, you gotta tell him.' He bit his lip and turned the doorknob. 'Use some gusto.'

A bell dinged over his head as he came through the door. "Excuse me?" Franky called, "Is Den here?"

"Just a sec'!" A webbed hand rested on the counter and white hair stuck out as the merman leaned down. A bubble kept him propped up, his spotted tail wrapped around it for balance. "Where the devil did it go? I know it fell somewhere down here."

Franky nearly jumped. For a moment, he felt ten again. He was back in his mentor's office, anxiously waiting to show off his first blueprints and earn the shipwright's approval. Instead of the familiar fanged grin, however, the merman gave him a polite smile when he sat up. "Sorry for the wait. I dropped my pen when the bell rang." He eyed Franky curiously. "How can I help you?"

"Well, uh..." Franky stumbled over his words. "I came here to talk to you, sir. You're Tom's brother...right?"

Den blinked owlishly, caught off guard by the sudden question. "Why yes, I am. Is that relevant?"

"Yeah. If it's alright with you, can we sit down to talk about this? There's a lot I need to tell you." One of Franky's large hands scratched at his neck, trying to find something to distract himself with.

"I suppose so. If you'll change the sign on the door, we can go into the back and I'll warm up some tea. Do you have a particular preference, Mr…?"

"Oh! Sorry!" He blushed. "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Franky and any kind is fine with me."

For a split second, he could have sworn he'd seen Den's smile return with an almost knowing chuckle, but he brushed it off as he turned the sign to 'Closed' and stepped behind the counter and into Den's workspace. It was nothing spectacular. The space was small and it seemed like the man's workshop doubled as his living quarters, but it had a homey feel to Franky. There was wood and blueprints scattered across the room and several notebooks covered a couch that was pushed into the far corner.

"It's a bit messy, but make yourself comfortable. Just stack those journals on the floor and I'll be out in a minute." Den swam into one of the adjacent rooms, probably into the kitchen. Franky used absolute caution to clear the couch of Den's journals, afraid of damaging anything before sitting down. While he waited, Franky glanced up at a shelf, where a few pictures were framed. All three of the photographs showed Den smiling alongside his brother at various times in their lives. One was of the two as children with Tom carrying Den on his back. Another showed the two in front of Den's workshop at its grand opening, Tom laughing joyously and patting Den on the shoulder, and the final picture had a suitcase sitting at Tom's feet as he hugged Den and the message "See you soon!" written in Tom's small print.

"Kokoro took that last one." Den set a tray of steaming tea down on the desk between them and settled on a chair, using the bubble like a footstool. "So, what about my brother did you want to discuss?"

Franky swallowed hard, but he couldn't get rid of the large lump in his throat. "Well you see, sir-"

"No need to be formal. 'Den' is fine!"

"Den...um, what I wanted to say was-uh..."

"Come on, Franky. Say what's on your mind. It can't be that bad, can it?" Den gave him an encouraging smile, but Franky's heart dropped further into his stomach with dread.

'Yes, it can be that bad,' he thought. Tightening his hands into fists, Franky took a deep breath. "Den, Tom's dead." Before the merman could interject, Franky bowed his head and continued. "There was something Tom had that the government wanted. When he didn't give into their demands, the government struck back. I was an apprentice of Tom's at the time, though I spent most of my time building battleships. I kept building stronger and stronger weapons and left the ships unattended. The government found them and used my creations to frame Tom and his company with the attack they caused. A lot of people got hurt, including Tom and my bro. The judge initially was going to send all three of us to Enies Lobby, but the construction of the sea train gave Tom a pardon for one crime. He used it towards the staged attack, leaving my bro and I out of harm's way, while he was sentenced to death for building the Pirate King's ship."

Tears had started to cloud Franky's vision, but he tried to keep himself from weeping. "My bro warned me constantly about what my battleships could do, but I was stubborn and stupid enough to think that nothing could happen to them. I'm sorry, Den. I'm partially to blame for what happened-" Franky stopped when a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

Den shook his head softly. "Franky, there's no need for you to apologize to me."

"But I-"

"No 'buts'. If anyone is at fault, it's the government for taking advantage of you and your skills. It's clear to me that you care deeply about Tom and I'm sure he felt the same for you and your brother. He wouldn't have protected you so fiercely otherwise." Den's expression softened into a gentle, understanding smile. "And don't worry about me. I already knew that Tom had died. I've come to terms with it. I appreciate you coming all this way to tell me though. It helps hearing the details of what happened. I know now that Tom lived his life to the fullest with people he loved and that's all I could ask for."

That was the last straw. Franky's lip trembled slightly before broke down into sobs. He tried to bloke the sight with his arm, embarrassed to break down in front of Den. "Th-thank you! I'm glad I came to meet you!"

"Same to you, Franky! You're a fine young man. If there's ever anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."

Franky sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "Actually, there's one thing I wanted to ask you. Our ship got swept away when we arrived on Fishman Island. Do you have any ideas where it might have gone? It's my masterpiece and, being that you're a shipwright yourself, I'd be honored to show her to you."

"Hmm..." Den rubbed his beard. "If your ship was taken by the current, I think I know where it may be. We can take a taxi down there. Her coating must have worn off by now too, I'm assuming."

"Yep. Right as we landed."

"Alright then! Once we find her, you can check for any damage that the current may have caused. If she's in good enough condition, I can re-coat her for you before you and your crew have to leave."

"W-wait, really?!" Franky's eyes widened in surprise. "That'd be great! How much will it cost?"

"For you, it's free of charge. I wouldn't feel right taking money from one of Tom's boys. Give me a few days and I'll have the job done with gusto!"

"Super! That sounds perfect!"


End file.
